Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-31
DAILY HERALD.
LOCO WEED.
The Cowboys Experience with
the Crazy Weed.

the Crazy Weed.
A correspondent of the Colorado
Lire Stock Reriew and Standard gives
the following interesting description
of the loco weed, its history and its
effects:
s'Loco is, believe, a Spanish word,
meaning crazy. The first time ever
heard the word Mexican cook of Kit
Carson's used it, as he had locoed
horse. He showed me the plant and
explained to me the effect it had on
horses, cattle and sheep, also on the
human family, provided they get a
dose of it. This was in 1859, since
which time / have been familiar with
loco and its effects ON stock.
Our State of Colorado paid a bounty
on it for time, and then repealed the
law, which was right, as no State
could stand a draft on her treasury for
q aplant that grows spontaneous all over
her domain. But they repealed said
law on the statement from Professor
Faville that it was not poisonous to
stock of any kind Now common
COW puncher has got to have cheek
like a government mule to dispute
such authority, but l here make the
statement that the Professor doesn't
know any more about the qualities Of
loco and its effects on stock than hen
knows as to who is the sire or dam Of
her chickens. To be professor and
be able to analyze substance by
the use of chemicals is, l sup
pose, nice, and has great weight
with some people, but let said Profess
sor get into the saddle and work with
stock year after year for over twenty
five years and notice the effect loco
has on stock, their stomachs doing
the chemical work. and his observa-
fions taking the place of book educa-
ton, and he will conclude if loco is
not poisonous it is worse than forty
rod whisky, and everybody, even the
drinker, calls that poison.
Now, let healthy COW brute eat
loco-they will all eat it ravenously
the plea that they have to learn to eat
it is all bosh; saw some bulls raised
in Canada shipped to Pueblo, | drove
them twelve miles, stopped them to
craze in gramme grass three inches
high, with several punches OF loco in
the grass, and these Kanuck bulls ate |
the loco clean first. l have seen
sucking calves eat it, the first green |
stuff they ever ate in their lives.
Cattle all love loco. After eating it |
q short time you will notice a change |
in their action and in their looks.
They will walk carefully, like they |
were stepping on eggs; they will look
at you like fool; l do not know of
that can look as foolish as a
locoed COW brute. A drunken man
cannot begin where the cows leave off.
The simplest drunken idiot looks wise
to a locoed brute. You will
notice that they do not know what |
to do or where to go; bring your quirt |
down hard on your chapps and she |
will jump straight up and light out
running her level best right away from |
where you want her to go. Now stop
her or him if you can, but watch that |
they do not run over you.
II you see COW brute that you |
think is locoed, and you are not GER
tain, take your lariat from the horn of
your saddle, Just drop it over her horns |
and see her tremble and shake like a |
person with palsy or st. Vitus' dance.
The test will never fail. Cattle show
the effects of loco worst at the begin
ming of cold weather. If they have
been poisoned enough to show the |
they will fall away rapidly |
and die by spring, or before, if left on
the range.
Take locoed COW for breeder. If |
she does have calf she has not sense
enough to take care of it, and the calf
is little, poor, weakly idiot, and not |
one in ten ever lives to be year old.
A locoed COW is not worth, for any
thing on earth, one dollar more than
her hide will bring.
The effects of loco on horses are |
the same as on cattle. They are
practically useless, and exceedingly |
dangerous. They will "cut up" like
q drunken clown if you try to ride or
drive them. If brood mares get locoed
they will seldom bring a foal and
raise it. Their colts will either be
still born or else so idiotic and weak |
that one in ten will not live till wean-
ing time.
NV observations of loco is that, all
things favorable, it comes from the
seed, grows one year; the next year
and raises seed, then dies.
The number of seeds one plant will
raise is into the hundreds of thous-
ands. 1t is growing the first in the
spring and the last in the fall, and is |
Dne OF the DEVILS own weeds. Il
Cattle that are locoed enough to
nave the shakes will often lose one
norm or both. The pith of the horn
,ots completely away. You will see
hem with their head against tree or
ience post, where they will push and
-ub and tremble. Their blood be-
comes SO poisoned that swellings will
appear on the jaw or any other place,
and fill with pus. In other words the
kidneys will decay; the spine is af-
Iected from the start; they will show
that from their walk.
This one plant costs the COW inter-
ests thousands of dollars annually in
premature dropping of calves and
colts, and matured stock rendered
useless by using it, have just seen
IN an inquiry IN an eastern paper
about loco weed, and its effect on
stock, and the editor announces that
medical board, after care
Ful analysis, have decided that it con-
Lains nothing poisonous or hurtful to
domestic stock | would suggest that
DUR medical board have dose of it
l presume, however, how
aver. that nature must have furnished
hem with it,"